Cobalt Blue
by Jamjari
Summary: [RikuSora][AU] When they were young, Sora had to move away, leaving in Riku's possession a simple necklace. Years have gone by, without any word from Sora. What will Riku do when he comes across Sora again, but the boy has no recognition of him?
1. 00: The Departure

**- COBALT BLUE -  
**_a RikuxSora story by Jamjari  
_**  
**

_Summary: _When they were young, Sora had to move away due to certain circumstances. He left in Riku's possession a simple necklace, in reminder of him. Years have gone by, without any word from Sora. What had happened? And what will Riku do when he comes across Sora again, but the boy has no recognition of him?

_Disclaimer:_ I don't own Kingdom Hearts, nor anything in it.

_Warnings: _This story contains male and male love situations. There may be some curses here and there. Rated T just to be safe, because of some situations that may pop up later.

_Pairing: _Riku/Sora

**00: The Departure**

* * *

He was an early-riser, and it wasn't uncommon for him to be outside to watch the sun rise. It was, however, a very rare sight to see his best friend lingering about the shore so early in the morning. He raised a hand to rub his eye just in case it was sleep that was causing him to hallucinate, but when he looked again, the brunet boy was still there, ankle deep in the water. He was bent over, hands plunged into the sea, scourging about for something, while blindly ignoring the droplets that were splashing up to his rolled up shorts. The glimpse of the golden sun in the horizon made the other boy's spiked hair and light skin glow, making him that much more of an astonishing sight to see. 

After a few minutes of admiring the art-like scene before him, he decided to go see what was up.

"G'morning, Sora!" He called over, stopping just before the edge of the sand, where Sora's sandals were neatly set side by side. Sora looked over to his friend, blinking his big blue eyes, before giving an ear-splitting grin. Those were two traits that made the seven-year-old stand out; those cobalt blue eyes that displayed each and every emotion that you were so prone to get lost in, and that wide smile that brightened up even the darkest of rooms.

"Riku!" Sora called back, straightened up to wave to his friend. Riku smiled in return. For some reason, Riku liked it when Sora said his name. It was like a melody to the ears.

"What are you doing up so early?" Riku asked the boy.

"Oh!" Sora had forgotten his task for a moment there. "Well… It's a surprise. Wait up." He turned his back toward the older boy, while pulling something out of his pocket fumbling with it in his hands. After a few minutes, he announced, "Done!"

Turning back towards his friend with his hands behind his back, he gave another one of his grins. "Close your eyes, Riku."

Riku complied and squeezed his eyes shut. He could hear the swishing in the water, and then the patter of feet as Sora moved over to him. Having the urge to peek, Riku cracked an eye open. Sora noticed and scolded, "No peeking!" Riku shut his eye again.

"Alright, hands out." Sora commanded, and Riku held out his hands in front of him, palms up. Sora dropped an item into his hands, something cold to the touch. "You can open your eyes now."

Riku slowly opened his eyes. There was a necklace laying on his hands, consisting of a double-string of black leather with tiny pewter-colored beads and two sets of cowry shells looped into it. In the center was a perfectly spherical stone that reflected the shade of Sora's eyes – cobalt blue. All in all, the necklace was a beautiful work of art. The older boy's jaw dropped slightly, as he looked up to his grinning friend. "You made this?"

"Yup!" Sora beamed. "I made myself one too!" He pulled out another necklace of the exact same design, except that the stone was a stunning teal, just like the color of Riku's eyes. Shifting his feet slightly, he explained, "See, I found these stones at this small cove at the other side of the island. This one reminded me of, you know, your eyes. And the blue one was like mine. So I got some stuff from my dad and the shells from the ocean and made us matching necklaces. So we could remember each other, no matter what!"

"Thanks, Sora." Riku grinned and placed the gift around his neck. Sora did the same with his own necklace. "But why this all of a sudden?"

The brightness on Sora's face disappeared all of a sudden, replaced by an expression of sorrow that did not suit the other. Sora casted his gaze downward, while falling into silence. What was wrong? Had Riku said something to upset the boy?

Then he finally spoke, still avoiding eye contact with Riku. "Your mom told me not to tell you this until afternoon, but I can't keep it from you. She said that you wouldn't be able to bear it and would make my mom feel bad…" Sora inhaled deeply. "I'm moving away, Riku."

"What?"

Sora pulled his head up, his blue eyes ready to well up in tears. He was fighting it down the best that he can. He didn't want Riku to think he was a sissy, as the older boy frequently but jokingly told him he was. "I'm moving out. Far, far away. On a plane. My mom says we might not even get to see each other again."

As he said that, Sora burst into tears. He immediately raised his arms to cover his crying face. Riku stood in shock, his brain not quite having registered this new information yet.

"I-It's for her work. S-she says it's s-something she c-can't refuse." Sora sobbed, desperately struggling to speak. "M-my dad says it'll b-be a new s-start for the family. H-he doesn't e-even want me t-to c-call you once I'm there! I-I'm sorry, Riku!" It was then that Sora completely broke down, wailing as he reached to hug Riku. Who cared about being called a sissy? It would be his last time being able to cry in front of him.

Riku wrapped his arms around the other boy, shaking. He wanted to cry, he really did. But he had to be strong for Sora, tell him that it was okay. It was hard, but he had to. After all, he couldn't leave a weak impression on Sora.

There were no sounds of seagulls that morning to drown out Sora's weeping, no strong winds to rustle the palm leaves, and even the rush of the waves seemed to have calmed down, as though in respect of the boys' last moment together. They stood like this for a long while, calming themselves in each others' embrace. When they had settled down, they began to discuss things of the future. Screw what their parents said; they'd keep in contact. Their parents ought to know better of the close relationship Sora and Riku had, and that it'd be futile for them to completely split them apart. Sora knew Riku's number by heart, and he would be able to call in when he arrived in his new house. They talked about all the fun they had in the past, and how they were going to meet in the future, even if Sora's hair turned gray and Riku had to walk with a cane.

It didn't seem so bad after all.

Afternoon came way too quickly for the two of them. Sora's family packed everything into their car, and set themselves ready for departure. This time, Sora and Riku reminded each other to be happy, and that they'd call in often. They also said that they would remember each other no matter what. Even though they were apart, they would be connected through the necklaces that they swore to wear forever, give and take a few special circumstances such as showering.

Riku kept a smile on his face as Sora boarded his car and waved to him from the window, grinning. The car engine was revved up. Sora made a quick telephone gesture with his thumb and pinky next to his ear, indicating that he'd call as soon as he got there, before waving wildly to his friend.

Riku maintained a positive mindset. It'd be okay. They'd talk frequently, and when they grew up, they'd meet and live together.

"Bye!" Sora shouted from his car, which was slowly rolling into motion.

The older boy nodded, and he waved back while calling out, "We'll see each other again soon. Promise?"

"**Promise!**"

With that, the car drove off and out of sight, leaving Riku behind. As he watched the car disappear from his view, he told himself again that everything would be alright. Heck, he'd grow up to be an amazing person and surprise Sora when they met up. Riku retreated into his house, happy thoughts swirling in his mind, fingers playing with the cobalt blue stone around his neck. Yes, things would end up perfectly fine.

_Only if he had known then that that would not be the case._

* * *

** A/N: **Hey guys. I haven't been here for a while. This is a new story, and I'm going to try to keep it going, as long as readers are interested. This is just the prologue, but... read and review please! I need inspiration to keep this going, after all. 


	2. 01: Simple Life

**- COBALT BLUE -  
**  
**01: Simple Life**

* * *

"Riku! Psst… Riku!"

_Huh?_

"Wake up!"

Riku blinked his eyes open, finding that, to his surprise, it was dark, save for the light that projected off the gigantic screen that loomed in front of him. To his side, a blonde girl was jabbing his ribs with her finger and hissing into his ear.

"You told me that you'd stay awake! This movie's real good!" She complained in a hushed, irritated voice. Crossing her arms indignantly, she fixed herself back into her seat, clearly offended that the other had fallen asleep.

Why did he have that dream again? It had been a while since he had it, so he thought it was gone for good, but it had come to haunt him again. One would think such a memory would be a pleasant one to have. And that would have been the case, if that best friend had actually kept his promise and called Riku. It was a wonder how clearly Riku remembered that scene. Well, the vivid dream reminded him constantly, so it didn't mean that he had phenomenal memory or something, to recall an event from eleven years ago with exact details. It still bothered him to this day. They had been such good friends – or at least, from what Riku could gather from his memories – and the boy had promised to contact him. Riku remembered that he had been sticking by the phone for about a month, then for three months after that, he constantly checked back with both his mom and the answering machine to see if he had gotten a ring from his old pal. Still, nothing. He eventually had given up.

Riku sighed, leaning into the handle on the opposite side, half-lidded eyes gazing boredly at the two people in the movie. Lovers, he assumed. His friend was always into sappy stuff. "Namine, I have no idea why you wanted to watch this movie, when you already did twice."

"It's just that awesome!" Namine beamed.

"Why'd you have to drag me into this? You know how I hate these kinds of movies."

"Well, I didn't want to look pathetic coming along by myself." Namine said, nodding off toward the other seats in the theater. Just from one glance, Riku could tell that all of the people in the audience were in couples. How typical. "And I already had come with Tidus and Roxas once each; and neither wanted to go for a repeat."

Riku could see why they didn't want to see this crap again.

"Namine, just let me go home—" Namine clapped a hand over Riku's mouth, pressing an index to her own lips.

"Shh! This is the good part!" She scolded, before removing her hand and intently staring at the screen. Good part, yeah right. It was sappy and corny, with the two lovers in the movie exchanged vows and sugary words that made Riku want to gag. As the couple leaned in for a kiss, Namine suddenly coiled her arm around one of Riku's, startling him.

She giggled. "Sorry, just puts me in a romantic mood." Leaning into Riku's arm, Namine continued watching the movie. Riku simply rolled his eyes and let her do what she wanted. After all, she was treating him out after this.

Though, when it continued to drag on for more than one hour (– Riku checked his watch every fifteen minutes –), he began to ask himself, was it really worth it?

When the movie was finally over and the credits began to roll, Riku was the first to jump out of his seat, tearing himself from Namine's grip. The film was stupid, and just having to sit through it for two and a half hours, _awake_ was torture.

He tore out through the couples who were swapping kisses, obviously put into a "romantic mood" like Namine, feeling sickened. These people needed a slap in the face, even if it was in a theater that played some overrated sappy motion picture. Or he was just being a grouch.

Riku exited clear out of the building, and inhaled in the air sharply. Fresh air, uncontaminated of the silly love those ignorant people indulged themselves in. Love was pretty much useless, after all. It never lasted. There was no such thing as true love, or true devotion. If there were, there wouldn't be so many breakups and divorces in the world. Everything was ephemeral, and "love" was just a word for two people who trusted each other more than they would another person. It was just a faux emotion that people used to have temporary happiness, blissfully ignorant of the fact that the relationship would end up in ruins or fall to mutual agreements simply to avoid the troubles of getting a divorce. Something like that. All in all, it was all monkey business. "Love" blinded people, made them slack off in every other aspect of life, caused them to ignore what was important, and –

"Riku!"

He turned around, facing the girl who had forgotten momentarily. "Namine, don't you ever drag me to a boring movie like that ever again."

Namine placed her hands on her hips. "Well, aren't you a spoilsport. Just because you never experienced love doesn't mean you have to get angry at the rest of the world about it!"

Riku wanted to retort back, but he bit his tongue. It would lead to pointless arguments that he would rather not be bothered with. Instead, he shrugged nonchalantly and pointed out, "You owe me a meal."

The blonde gave her friend a glare. "Fine, but only because I'm not a cheapskate like you who sleeps clear through one fourth of the movie." Staying true to her word, Namine turned and headed down the street, Riku following after her.

* * *

"Hamburgers?" Riku asked incredulously, eyeing the menu that hung overhead. He had been expecting something a bit more high-class in return for sitting through agony like that.

"Oh, don't be fussy." Namine replied, picking a few bills out of her wallet. She handed it over to the cashier, requesting two Town Special Combos. She received her receipt and her change and stuffed them into her wallet, before turning to Riku. "I'm a poor college student, you know."

That was a lie. The girl was well off, and more on the rich side than anything else. She even had a house nearby their university campus so that she wouldn't have to stay in the "noisy dorms", as she described it. That was why Riku let out a short laugh, before heading over to an empty table and took a seat, with Namine joining him soon after.

"Ahh, school term's starting soon." Namine sighed, gathering her hands together in front of her and resting her chin on it. "I wonder if any cute freshmen are going to come in."

"You like younger guys?" Riku asked, raising a brow.

"Mm… I don't really have a preference, but the guys at our school are as lousy as they come, so I'm keeping some hope inside."

Riku scowled. "Are you saying _I'm _"lousy"?"

"Well, duh!" Namine stated as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. However, she started laughing a second later. "Just kidding. But I know you're not up for grabs. You're obviously not interested, since you haven't had a girlfriend yet."

"Not really. I've had quite a few, remember?"

She rolled her eyes in response. "I meant a _real _girlfriend, Riku. You didn't like them at all. They all liked you for your looks and what they saw in you from a distance, you knew that. But you played along anyway, and then dumped them in what… Two, three days? Gosh, I wonder why I hang out with a jerk like you."

"I'm not a jerk. They were all mutual agreements, pretty much. None of them attached themselves to me so much that they'd cry over me or anything."

"Oh, and how would you know that?"

"I just know. Besides, it was really obvious that they just wanted to fool around."

"Riku, I think you should settle down for a serious relationship. I think you need it most."

"Now that's funny. Relationships are foolish and ridiculous." Riku laughed, and waved off the subject. "I heard the university is going to accept a lot of new kids this year, though, since they finished the new building down south."

Namine nodded, and stood up once their number was called up. "That's ours. I'll go get it." She fished out her receipt before scurrying off to the pick-up for their trays.

Both Riku and Namine were now sophomores at the local, renowned university at Twilight Town. Well, it wasn't really a town anymore and hadn't been for a long while, but it was still named so to keep the authenticity. Yes, it was a town at first, but the place displayed prodigious growth, mostly from tourists who came to admire the beautiful coast and the sunsets. It soon grew into a thriving city, and the university they attended, Gertrude University (1), was built soon after. The university had a substantial growth too, and soon became a widely recognized school that many people competed to get into. It had a huge ever-expanding campus (which gave the university its widely used informal name, BUTT – Big University of Twilight Town), and the school specialized in many academic fields that excelled many other leading schools; the most pronounced being in the medical and designing majors.

Riku was studying to become a doctor, and Namine was into landscaping. The two of them had met at the library during freshmen year and became friends once they found out they were both attending the same school. She was one of his closest friends, whom he hung out with regularly, including Tidus, Roxas, and a couple of others. Most of them had always lived in the Twilight Town area before they came to the school – Riku had not.

Riku had transferred in after graduating from high school back in Destiny Islands, which was a fair distance from Twilight Town, though still along the coast. He wasn't at all reluctant to leave home. Relations had been shaky at home then, and Riku had the feeling it was his fault. He hadn't had much forbearance for his parents, due to school stress and their constant nagging, so he was commonly bitter around the house. It rubbed off on his parents, who started bickering with each other. It wasn't like he didn't like them. No, not at all. He just felt that family connections would be mended if he stepped out of the way for a while, and chose a university far from home. For the most part, it had worked, judging from the more pleasant conversations over the phone, and a couple of visits here and there.

School tuitions hadn't been hard to cover – Riku's household was a rather rich one, after all. They all practiced and thrived in the medical field, which was rewarding in income. Unfortunately for Riku, his father had a policy saying that a man's got to earn his own keep. That was why Riku only received enough money to cover for college fees, the materials, food, and dorm room. If he wanted anything else that wasn't an absolute necessity, he had to work for it.

"Here you go."

Namine, who had returned, slid a tray of food in front of Riku before returning to her own chair with her own. Despite previous negativity from the male about hamburgers, Riku picked up his hamburger, muttered thanks, and took a large bite out of it. He was hungry, after all, and this place was rather famous for their Town Special Combos. Riku enjoyed the meal, to say the least.

"See, wasn't so bad now, was it?" Namine grinned as Riku finished his meal.

"Whatever." Riku said, leaning back into his chair and tipping it on its hind legs.

"'Whatever', he says." Namine mocked, dropping a fry into her mouth. "Geez, show a little more appreciation, will you?"

"Not after you made me watch that movie."

"You're such a grouch." She stuck out a tongue at her friend.

Riku wasn't really paying attention to her. Instead, he was gazing off to some random direction, fiddling with the necklace around his neck.

Namine blinked, and tilted her head. "Oh yeah, that necklace. I was always curious about it, since you have it on everywhere you go. Where'd you get it, anyway?" She grinned slyly. "Some girlfriend from the past that I don't know about?"

He sighed, and looked toward Namine. "Nope. It was a gift from a best friend I had a long time ago. I haven't heard from him for a while, though." Hah, _a while_. That was laughable. It was more like an eternity.

"Ooh." Namine nodded. She could see the sadness in Riku's eyes. Not anger, not irritation, not boredom, not arrogance, but _sadness_. It was a rare sight to see. So she decided not to touch on the subject any longer. "Well, I think the freshmen are coming soon, aren't they? I want to see them!"

"You know, not too many people actually go out of their way to look forward to arrival of new students, especially seeing how big the university is… I bet you haven't even met a tenth of the people we have now."

"Whatever. I still want to see them. I think they're cute! And I like helping new people out. Wonder when they'll come though?"

"I heard the ones who are going to stay in the dorms are arriving tomorrow. I think they had orientation a few days ago."

"Ehh?" Namine's eyes widened. "Then how come I haven't seen them?!"

"Because, we had summer sessions."

"Ohhh, right." Namine stood up from the table. "Well, I think we should be heading back now."

"Right." Riku followed suit and brought himself to his feet, and for a split second, he caught a sight of a figure exiting the store. That spiky brown hair… was all too familiar. Was it…? No, it couldn't be, that would've been too wild of a coincidence. Heh, just one little dream that sends your memories rushing back to you and you start seeing things left and right…

"What's up?" Namine asked, concerned about her friend.

He stared at the door a moment longer, before shaking his head. "Nothing."

* * *

**A/N: **Hi guys! Thank you for your reviews. I adore you to bits and pieces (: Reviews make my day. This chapter is just to put the setting up, so sorry if it dragged out. Next one will be more eventful, I promise. I'm also fixing it so all the explanation/warnings/disclaimer things are on the first chapter so I don't have to follow up every time, unless there are chapter-specific warnings. And an explanation: 

**(1) **I couldn't really think of a university name, so that was the best I could do. It's named after Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi's book _How Gertrude Teaches Her Children_, in which he wrote about systems and methods of teaching children... Yeah, no relevance to the story whatsoever. xD

Again, feedback please! Any kind will do. Minus flames. I don't like 'em. Also, tell me if you would like to see any other pairings in the story. ;D Thanks!


	3. 02: Blissful Memories, Empty Memories

**- COBALT BLUE -**

**02: Blissful Memories, Empty Memories**

* * *

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and it was a brand new day.

Most of the students at the university were celebrating and partying as much as humanly possible before the start of the new term. Others, such as Namine, were stalking down the freshmen that were supposed to be moving in on this day.

And Riku…

Riku was working.

Yes, _working_ on the last week before the start of school, instead of spending his time resting, going on a last-minute vacation, enjoying the great weather, or getting drunk. He was using the remaining bit of time fetching up as much money as he could so he wouldn't have to work when school began. As previously mentioned, he pretty much had to fend for himself when it came down to money aside of bare essentials. And it was good knowing that he didn't have a completely empty wallet, especially when concerts, school events, and tempting luxuries came waltzing around the corner.

"Just today… Just _one more day _and I'm out of here." Riku continually reminded himself as he moved down the row of children's book, setting the new orders on the shelves in an orderly fashion. He hated to be here. He hated wearing the stuffy black and white uniform. He hated working at this stupid _bookstore_.

It was a pretty big bookstore that he worked in, and as silent as a library more often than not. The silence drove him insane sometimes. Thus, he valued the moments when his friends stopped by the say hello. Today, Roxas and Tidus, feeling pity for him, came for a visit. After conversing for about three minutes, they decided that the place was way too quiet for their liking, and declared that they were going to go to an arcade, leaving a disgruntled Riku behind.

Riku heaved the cart that held the new books a few more feet down the aisle, then turned toward the shelves again, taking the time to glare at the Dr. Suesses and Berenstain Bears that lined them, as though it was the books' faults that he had to work. Just then, he happened to spot a book pushed into the dark crevice between two shelves through the corner of his eye. Curiously, he bent down and reached into the narrow space, using his fingers the pull the book out and toward him; which, after a few attempts, fell at his feet.

"Huh…" He picked up the fairly thick book and blew off the dust from its hardcover, which in turn caused him to cough. After waving away all the dust, he used the carpet to wipe off the rest ("No one will notice.") before standing and bringing it to his eyes.

"Kingdom Hearts." He read the title aloud, before realizing that he had heard about it somewhere. But where…

That's right. _Sora_.

Sora had wanted it when they were kids. Riku recalled the brown haired boy whining to him for a month straight about his mom's stubbornness and how she wouldn't make the purchase. That was when Riku had come up with the idea to save up money to buy the book for Sora, because Riku didn't like seeing Sora so upset. Then, when prices racked up because further publication was cancelled, Sora gave up, and they used the saved up money to buy candy and ice cream.

Riku chuckled at the memory, and flipped the book over to see the price at the bottom. "It's a wonder how much $10 seemed back then…"

He tucked the book into the cart, wanting to ask later if he could buy it. He didn't know why, but he wanted the book. Maybe just to get one up at Sora; to say, "I got it before you did" when he saw his friend again. (Fat chance.) Or maybe just to see what his past best friend found so amazing about the stupid picture book.

"Hi!"

Riku was startled, and he snapped out of his thoughts as he swerved around to meet eyes with a rather short brunette. But from whichever angle Riku looked at her, she didn't look like a child. Childish features, maybe, but not a complete kid. So why the heck was she in the children's section?

However, a customer was a customer. Riku forced a smile onto his face as he looked at the girl. "How may I help you?" He asked in the super fake, greet-the-customer voice that every employee was to master.

The girl grinned and bounced on her heels. "I was just bored, so I just wanted to talk to you."

"Oh." Riku fought the urge to scowl. She had brought him out of his blissful thoughts of his childhood just to say that she wanted to talk.

"My name is Selphie! What's your name?" ...And she sounded way too happy for her own good.

"Riku." He answered simply, dropping the false tone from before.

Selphie squealed. "That's a pretty cool name! You know, I just moved into the dorms at the university across the street, so I'm pretty new around here, so I'm touring all the shops and stuff so I could know where to go when I need stuff."

Riku raised a brow. "You go to Gertrude?" She didn't look the age of a university student, nor did she seem to fit the personality.

"Yup! And I have a few friends there already, because they transferred in with me, and I'll be hanging out with them, so I'm not completely lonel--" She cut herself off abruptly, and she ogled at Riku as though he had sprouted a second head.

It unsettled him greatly. "…What?"

She stared at him for a couple more seconds, before breaking out into another grin. "Your necklace. It's really pretty." She pointed out.

Riku glanced down at his necklace, and curled his fingers around it. It was the one Sora had given him. "Thanks. I like it too."

"You're welcome!" She chirped. "Well... I think I'll have to go now. See you later!" With that, Selphie sped out of the bookstore as quickly as she had come.

Riku blinked a few times, and then shook his head, while returning to his previous task of shelving books. There were some really strange people in the world…

It seemed that the new freshmen were going to be an interesting bunch.

* * *

He crouched down in front of the wall in the hallway, just nearby the cafeteria. He was new to the school, but he just didn't feel like moving around to tour and familiarize himself with the campus with his friends. So he told them to go by themselves, and that he'd stay in the dorms to rest because he was tired. But instead, here he was, pathetically staring at this white wall. A pretty wall, one could argue, but a wall nonetheless.

He soon found himself wandering off into his thoughts.

He had a pleasant life, but there was always some empty part of him that he longed to fill. All his life, he felt as though he was wandering, searching for something that he neither could see nor reach.

He had kind parents, whom he dearly missed already. But for some reason, he had never felt that close to them. Maybe it was the fact that he couldn't recall any vivid memories of them before the age of eight, when children were supposed to be most attached to their parents. And whatever memories he did have were rather robotic, as though they were pasted into his brain. When you remember something, there was supposed to be senses and feelings to go along with it – sorrow, happiness, smell, touch, sight… But there was none of those present in the memories he had before eight. They were simply, "I went to a Christmas party with my family when I was seven. I received toys from so-and-so." Mere words embedded into his mind.

That was probably one of the reasons why he couldn't ever feel close to his family, and also the reason why he felt as though a portion of his childhood was ripped out from him and forever lost. That was why he felt so… empty.

As he sat, thinking, he drew a pencil from his pocket and started scribbling some words onto the corner of the wall, where it was impossible to see unless the person looked really hard. Once he'd finished, he placed the pencil back into his pocket, and jumped when a loud, familiar voice echoed down the hall. He stood up and turned around to see his friend sprinting toward him.

"Hey! Guess what, guess what!"

Selphie stopped before him, panting and clutching her chest, as though she had seen something absolutely amazing.

"What's up?" He asked, patting her on the back to get her to calm down.

She looked up with a bright smile.

"You know that necklace you have? The one that you say is like an important part of you, but you don't know where you got it, or something?"

He placed his hand over the necklace around his neck. Yes, it was true. He felt as though this necklace was a part of him – he had had it ever since he could remember. It was something that didn't feel as fake as everything else in his life did. Also, though he couldn't remember how he came to get a hold of the necklace, he could tell that it was handmade, so it was one of a kind and very special. He also found that, when he looked at the brilliant stone that was attached to it, something about the color calmed him down and made his worries ease away. There was important value to the necklace, though he didn't completely understand what it was. That was why he wore it all the time.

"Yeah… What about it?" He asked uneasily.

"Well… I just saw this guy who had the same one as you!"

* * *

**A/N: **Thank you all sooo much for all the reviews! Reviews are what keep me going. Sorry that I don't respond to each and one of them individually. I just don't have the time to. Thank you for the ideas too. I'll keep the pairings mentioned in mind as the chapters go on. If you have any more pairing requests, just tell me. 

As for why Sora didn't keep the promise and etc. etc... It'll come eventually.

Also, I love sutatikku/Selph/Ayumiyori. (; She's extra special with a cherry on top.


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